Thomas Derrick (artist)
Encyclopedia
Thomas Derrick was an English artist, particularly known for his work as an illustrator and cartoonist. He also designed murals and stained glass.
. He trained as an artist at the Royal College of Art
, later spending five years there as an instructor on the decorative arts. He married Margaret Clausen, the daughter of the professor of painting, George Clausen
.
His oil painting of the Judgement of Paris
, painted in 1914 as a design for a mural, was given to the Brooklyn Museum of Art by Adolph Lewisohn
in 1923, and exhibited there in 1925.
In 1924 Derrick co-designed three posters for the Underground Electric Railways Company of London
, and was the sole artist of a fourth in 1927. From 1931 he was active as a cartoonist, contributing to Punch
, among other publications.
He moved in broadly "traditionalist" artistic and intellectual circles, numbering among his friends Hilaire Belloc
, G. K. Chesterton
, Ananda Coomaraswamy
, Ernest William Tristram, and Vincent McNabb
, the latter the priest who received him into the Roman Catholic Church
. His work also appeared in G. K.'s Weekly
.
Derrick lived for some years at Cold Ash, Berkshire
, and his sons, Michael
and Christopher
, attended the nearby Douai School
. Derrick, who was a friend of the headmaster, Dom Ignatius Rice
, designed the bookplate
s for the monastery library and for the school's Bede Library (opened 1937), contributed sketches to the Douai Magazine, and painted portraits of some of the abbots and headmasters.
He died in 1954.
Life
Derrick was born in Bristol in 1885 and was educated at Sidcot SchoolSidcot School
Sidcot School is a British co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils, associated with the Religious Society of Friends. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England....
. He trained as an artist at the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
, later spending five years there as an instructor on the decorative arts. He married Margaret Clausen, the daughter of the professor of painting, George Clausen
George Clausen
Sir George Clausen RA , was an artist working in oil and watercolour, etching, mezzotint, dry point and occasionally lithographs. He was knighted in 1927.-Biography:...
.
His oil painting of the Judgement of Paris
Judgement of Paris
thumb |right |460px |[[The Judgment of Paris |The Judgment of Paris]], [[Peter Paul Rubens]], ca 1636...
, painted in 1914 as a design for a mural, was given to the Brooklyn Museum of Art by Adolph Lewisohn
Adolph Lewisohn
Adolph Lewisohn was a German-Jewish immigrant born in Hamburg who became a New York City investment banker, mining magnate, and philanthropist. He is the namesake of the former School of Mines building on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University, as well as the former Lewisohn Stadium...
in 1923, and exhibited there in 1925.
In 1924 Derrick co-designed three posters for the Underground Electric Railways Company of London
Underground Electric Railways Company of London
The Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited , known operationally as The Underground for much of its existence, was established in 1902. It was the holding company for the three deep-level "tube"A "tube" railway is an underground railway constructed in a circular tunnel by the use...
, and was the sole artist of a fourth in 1927. From 1931 he was active as a cartoonist, contributing to Punch
Punch (magazine)
Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
, among other publications.
He moved in broadly "traditionalist" artistic and intellectual circles, numbering among his friends Hilaire Belloc
Hilaire Belloc
Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902. He was one of the most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century. He was known as a writer, orator, poet, satirist, man of letters and political activist...
, G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG was an English writer. His prolific and diverse output included philosophy, ontology, poetry, plays, journalism, public lectures and debates, literary and art criticism, biography, Christian apologetics, and fiction, including fantasy and detective fiction....
, Ananda Coomaraswamy
Ananda Coomaraswamy
Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy was a Ceylonese philosopher and metaphysician, as well as a pioneering historian and philosopher of Indian art, particularly art history and symbolism, and an early interpreter of Indian culture to the West...
, Ernest William Tristram, and Vincent McNabb
Vincent McNabb
Vincent McNabb, O.P. was an Irish scholar and priest, based in London, active in evangelisation and apologetics.-Early life:...
, the latter the priest who received him into the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. His work also appeared in G. K.'s Weekly
G. K.'s Weekly
G. K.'s Weekly was a British publication founded in 1925 by G. K. Chesterton, continuing until his death in 1936. It contained much of his later journalism, and extracts from it were published as The Outline of Sanity....
.
Derrick lived for some years at Cold Ash, Berkshire
Cold Ash, Berkshire
Cold Ash is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire about north of Thatcham and north east of Newbury.In the 2001 Census, Cold Ash had the highest proportion of women to men for any urban area in the United Kingdom.-History:...
, and his sons, Michael
Michael Derrick
John Michael Derrick was the son of the artist, illustrator and cartoonist Thomas Derrick, and older brother of the writer Christopher Derrick...
and Christopher
Christopher Derrick
This article is about Christopher Derrick the author. If you are looking for Christopher Derrick the runner please see Chris DerrickChristopher Hugh Derrick was an author, reviewer, publisher's reader and lecturer...
, attended the nearby Douai School
Douai School
Douai School was the public school that was run by the Douai Abbey Benedictine community at Woolhampton, England, until it closed in 1999.- History :...
. Derrick, who was a friend of the headmaster, Dom Ignatius Rice
Ignatius Rice
William Ignatius Rice , known in religion as Dom Ignatius Rice, O.S.B., was an English Benedictine monk of Douai Abbey, a headmaster of Douai School , and a first-class cricketer...
, designed the bookplate
Bookplate
A bookplate, also known as ex-librīs [Latin, "from the books of..."], is usually a small print or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the inside front cover, to indicate its owner...
s for the monastery library and for the school's Bede Library (opened 1937), contributed sketches to the Douai Magazine, and painted portraits of some of the abbots and headmasters.
He died in 1954.
Book illustration
- Kathleen Fitzgerald, Les Fables de La Fontaine choisies et recueillies pour les enfants; Illustrées par T. C. Derrick. London: Siegle, Hill et Cie., [1910].
- Henriette StoweHarriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...
, La Case de l'Oncle Tom; tr. Kathleen Fitzgerald, ill. Thomas Derrick. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs, [1911]. - Arthur ToothArthur ToothArthur Tooth SSC was a Ritualist priest in the Church of England and a member of the Society of the Holy Cross . Tooth is best known for having been prosecuted in 1876 under the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 for using proscribed liturgical practices...
(Warden of Woodside Orphanage, Croydon), Here begynneth ye storie of ye palmerman. (Done into manuscript and adorned with pictures by Thomas Derrick). London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1914. - Charles White, A Little Book of Ancient Landmarks within and around London. London: Underground Electric Railways Company, c.1917.
- Hugh B. C. Pollard, The Story of Ypres. London: McBride, Nast & Co, 1917.
- Giovanni BoccaccioGiovanni BoccaccioGiovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...
, The Decameron. London: Chatto & Windus, 1920. 11 full-page illustrations. - C. Armstrong Gibbs, The Betrothal: a fairy play (sequel to "The Blue Bird") by M. Maerterlinck (piano score). London: B. Feldman & Co, c1921. Title page.
- Eleanor FarjeonEleanor FarjeonEleanor Farjeon was an English author of children's stories and plays, poetry, biography, history and satire. Many of her works had charming illustrations by Edward Ardizzone. Some of her correspondence has also been published...
, The ABC of the B.B.C. London: W. Collins Sons, c1928. - Richard HakluytRichard HakluytRichard Hakluyt was an English writer. He is principally remembered for his efforts in promoting and supporting the settlement of North America by the English through his works, notably Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America and The Principal Navigations, Voiages, Traffiques and...
, The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques & Discoveries of the English Nation. 10 vols. London & Toronto: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1927-1928. - G.K. Chesterton, The Turkey and the Turk; arranged and pictured by Thomas Derrick. [Ditchling: St. Dominic's Press, 1930].
- Ambrose Bierce, Battle Sketches. Oxford: printed at the Shakespeare Head Press ... for the First Edition Club, 1930.
- Ernest RhysErnest RhysErnest Percival Rhys was an English writer, best known for his role as founding editor of the Everyman's Library series of affordable classics. He wrote essays, stories, poetry, novels and plays...
(ed.), Everyman; arranged and pictured by Thomas Derrick. Everyman's library 381. London and Toronto: Dent, and New York: Dutton, 1930. - Hilaire Belloc, Nine Nines, or, Novenas from a Chinese Litany of Odd Numbers; pictures by Thomas Derrick. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1931.
- Cyril AlingtonCyril AlingtonCyril Argentine Alington was an English educationalist, scholar, cleric, and prolific author. He was the headmaster of both Shrewsbury School and Eton College. He also served as chaplain to King George V and as Dean of Durham....
, Cautionary Catches, adorned by Thomas Derrick. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1931. - The Prodigal Son and other Parables, shown in pictures by Thomas Derrick. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1931.
- Richard Dark, Shakespeare - and that crush: being Angela's guide to English literature; with illustrations by Thomas Derrick. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1931.
- Frederick Samuel Thacker, Kennet Country; pictures by Thomas Derrick. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1932.
- Richard Dark, The Hilarious Universe. Being Angela’s guide to Einstein - and that crush; pictures by Thomas Derrick. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1932.
- The Muses. Traduced in Pictures by T. Derrick. London: Basil Blackwell, 1933.
- Richard Dark, Jobs for Jane. Another outrage by Richard Dark. Thomas Derrick again accessory. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1934.
- G. K. Chesterton (ed.), GK's: A Miscellany of the First 500 Issues of G.K.'s Weekly. London: Rich & Cowan, 1934. Frontispiece.
- Stephen L. Robertson, The Shropshire Racket [parodies of A. E. Housman]; with pictures by Thomas Derrick. London: Sheed & Ward, 1937.
- C. E. M. JoadC. E. M. JoadCyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad was an English philosopher and broadcasting personality. He is most famous for his appearance on The Brains Trust, an extremely popular BBC Radio wartime discussion programme...
, The Untutored Townsman's Invasion of the Country; with drawings by Thomas Derrick. London: Faber & Faber, 1946.
London Underground posters
- with Edward BawdenEdward BawdenEdward Bawden, CBE, RA was a British painter, illustrator and graphic artist. He was also famous for his prints, book covers, posters, and garden metalwork furniture...
, British Empire Exhibition. Published by Underground Electric Railways Company Ltd, 1924. Printed by Eyre & Spottiswoode. LTM ref. no. 1983/4/1767. - with Katherine Ritchie, To the Thames Valley by Motor Bus. Published by Underground Electric Railways Company Ltd, 1924. Printed by Eyre & Spottiswoode. LTM ref. no. 1983/4/1727.
- with Katherine Ritchie, The Way to London's Country by Motor Bus. Published by Underground Electric Railway Company Ltd, 1924. Printed by Eyre & Spottiswoode. LTM ref. no. 1983/4/1724.
- In the Spring, a Young Man's Fancy. Published by Underground Electric Railways Company Ltd, 1927. Printed by Vincent Brooks, Day & SonVincent Brooks, Day & SonVincent Brooks, Day & Son was a major British lithographic firm most widely known for reproducing the weekly caricatures published in Vanity Fair magazine. The company was formed in 1867 when Vincent Brooks bought the name, good will and some of the property of Day & Son Ltd, which had gone into...
Ltd. LTM ref. no. 1983/4/2145.
Sources
- H. R. Westwood, Modern caricaturists (1932), pp. 111–114.
- Mark Bryant, Dictionary of Twentieth-Century British Cartoonists and Caricaturists (2000), pp. 57–59.
External links
- Thomas Derrick at the National Portrait Gallery (London).